George House Refurb
Glasgow
“At the outset the aim was to provide a product which justifies an occupier’s decision to move to the property. We believe we have delivered on the quality of the space and its cost effectiveness through the sustainability emphasis in the design. It’s a building which those who worked on can be proud of being part of and which occupiers can be happy has been designed with them in mind.” - David Smith, Investment Director Redevco UK
Reiach and Hall were commissioned in early 2011 for the total refurbishment of George House, 50 George Square, Glasgow for Redevco Within a two-stage programme, Reiach and Hall are about to complete phase one at the end of January 2012, with works continuing until the end of July 2012.
The re-launch of George House represents the successful completion of the two-phase refurbishment of an existing 1970s office building situated at the heart of Glasgow’s City centre.
The objective of the project was to deliver an end product of comparable quality to a new build space; yet achieve industry leading sustainable solutions. The space which, at the outset, was largely unlettable, in a tired and rundown building, has been transformed through intervention, into a ‘Cat A’ product that can compete at the top end of the letting market.
Three aspects of the brief were fundamental to project delivery:
• BCO ‘Cat A’ office space that maximises future flexibility and use potentials
• Enhanced accessibility and public interface/ image
• Improved sustainability credentials; minimum BREEAM ‘Very Good’/ EPC ‘C’ ratings
Challenges, Successes & Innovation: The main challenges facing project delivery arose from the need to work with an existing building and around a sitting tenant. This included problems of how to maximise floor to ceiling heights, how to design for flexibility and how to enhance the public interface with only limited opportunity to materially alter facades.
These particular issues required architectural and servicing strategies which could be tailored to and support the existing shell configuration, such as the careful intervention into the existing facades to facilitate direct intake / extract to the external environment - permitting local user control on a 3m x 3m grid, office by office basis. Despite of the limitations of the existing building, the completed project delivers fully flexible BCO ‘Cat A’ office space with exemplary sustainability and energy accreditation, including BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and EPC ‘B’ ratings together with a revitalised public image that sets the project apart as a benchmark redevelopment project within the current letting market.
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Contract Value
£6M
Area
8,300m2
Completion
2011/2012
Client
Redevco
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Architects - Reiach and Hall Architects
Main Contractor - Interserve Construction
Sub-Contractor - BJM Interiors Ltd
Quantity Surveyor - DTZ
Services Engineer - Max Fordham
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Reiach and Hall were commissioned in early 2011 for the total refurbishment of George House, 50 George Square, Glasgow for Redevco Within a two-stage programme, Reiach and Hall are about to complete phase one at the end of January 2012, with works continuing until the end of July 2012.
The re-launch of George House represents the successful completion of the two-phase refurbishment of an existing 1970s office building situated at the heart of Glasgow’s City centre.
The objective of the project was to deliver an end product of comparable quality to a new build space; yet achieve industry leading sustainable solutions. The space which, at the outset, was largely unlettable, in a tired and rundown building, has been transformed through intervention, into a ‘Cat A’ product that can compete at the top end of the letting market.
Three aspects of the brief were fundamental to project delivery:
• BCO ‘Cat A’ office space that maximises future flexibility and use potentials
• Enhanced accessibility and public interface/ image
• Improved sustainability credentials; minimum BREEAM ‘Very Good’/ EPC ‘C’ ratings
Challenges, Successes & Innovation: The main challenges facing project delivery arose from the need to work with an existing building and around a sitting tenant. This included problems of how to maximise floor to ceiling heights, how to design for flexibility and how to enhance the public interface with only limited opportunity to materially alter facades.
These particular issues required architectural and servicing strategies which could be tailored to and support the existing shell configuration, such as the careful intervention into the existing facades to facilitate direct intake / extract to the external environment - permitting local user control on a 3m x 3m grid, office by office basis. Despite of the limitations of the existing building, the completed project delivers fully flexible BCO ‘Cat A’ office space with exemplary sustainability and energy accreditation, including BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and EPC ‘B’ ratings together with a revitalised public image that sets the project apart as a benchmark redevelopment project within the current letting market.
Sketchbook
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